Kersti Sandin & Lars Bülow | ScandinavianDesign.com

Sandin & Bülow is the Stockholm partnership of the architects and designers Kersti Sandin (b. 1950) and Lars Bülow (b. 1952). Over more than four decades they have worked as designers, manufacturers, educators and collectors, and few people have influenced the Swedish furniture industry from as many directions at once.

Background

The two met while studying interior architecture and furniture design at Konstfack in Stockholm and founded their studio in 1978. Before that, Bülow had trained as a furniture apprentice and worked with Bruno Mathsson in the early 1970s. In the 1980s the studio designed for companies such as Skandiform and Svenskt Tenn, including a cabinet in homage to Josef Frank made by Karl Andersson & Söner.

Materia

In 1992 Sandin and Bülow founded their own manufacturer, Materia, focused on furniture for public spaces and meeting environments. Their designs for the company include the Centrum conference range and Plint, a flexible seating system that has been in Nationalmuseum’s collection since 2003, as well as later additions such as the Monilite easy chair and sofa. Through the annual materia.newcomer programme they gave young designers an industrial platform, starting with Front. Materia became part of the Kinnarps group in 2004. Bülow went on to lead Materia, Skandiform and NC Nordic Care, and later Lammhults, and was named Furniture Profile of the Year 2012. Sandin became professor at HDK, the School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg.

Recent designs

The studio continues as S+B Stockholm. In 2023 it revisited Minimalen, a copper lamp the couple drew in 1988, as the Cake outdoor luminaire for Örsjö.

Museum of Furniture Studies

Over the years the couple built a private collection of more than 1,200 pieces by some 400 designers, from the late 19th century to today. It opened to the public in 2018 as the Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm’s Frihamnen, with exhibitions and the Ex-Works programme for design students. In 2024 IKEA Älmhult acquired the museum, which moves to Älmhult, and Ex-Works continues there.

Recognition

Sandin & Bülow have received the Excellent Swedish Design award around twenty times, and their work is represented at Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg and the Museum für Angewandte Kunst in Cologne.